Rilke

Here is a love letter that I like, written by Rilke:

To love is good, too: love being difficult.

For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.
For this reason young people, who are beginners in everything, cannot yet know love: they have to learn it.

With their whole being, with all their forces, gathered close about their lonely, timid, upward-beating heart, they must learn to love.

But learning-time is always a long, secluded time, and so loving, for a long while ahead and far on into life, is--solitude, intensified and deepened loneliness for him who loves.

Love is at first not anything that means merging, giving over, and uniting with another (for what would a union be of something unclarified and unfinished, still subordinate--?), it is a high inducement to the individual to ripen, to become something in himself for another's sake, it is a great exacting claim upon him, something that chooses him out and calls him to vast things.

Prrrrr

Heard of a bear hug? This is a lion hug:)

Hugs from Filly!

Embrella is a wonderful, responsible, and intelligent, cat. I admire her and I am proud to be her friend!!

nibbles

I am holding a warm egg (freshly boiled) after eating a bowl of extremely cheesy noodles. It is surprisingly pleasing. I recommend it.

You Are What You Eat

My mummy eats lots of apples. For example, she bought a half-bushel basket once and finished them in a week.
I was putting away the laundry and sorting out the clothes in the bottom of her closet. All the places on her clothes that would normally smell like sweat, smell like apples. :)

I get to hug a flavaflav soon!

1. I made an appetizing bowl of green today (asparagus, broccoli, spinach and avocado).

2. Flavaflav will be in town soon!

3. I played pool and conversation with the incomparable Fighting Monk this morning.

Canada Post Spring for Fun

I had a delivery today. It was a Canada Post man delivering flowers for the first day of spring.

I leapt on him and kissed him, which made him laugh, and say in a severe voice "You're not supposed to kiss the delivery man, ma'am."

I had to fill out a delivery report and sign for the flowers.

As you can see...

They were radiantly lovely, designed by Maypole, with circus roses and (by request!) kangaroo paws.

Which I admired before dancing the delivery man round my kitchen.

It's actually going to happen

Here is the program for our conference. It appears that it is actually going to happen. Can you believe it? Nuts.

the place of psyche: politics, art, nature

15^th annual conference in philosophy

villanova university

Keynote Speaker: Johnathan Lear, University of Chicago

In addition to his training as a psychoanalyst, Professor Lear’s philosophical interests include conceptions of health, happiness, and the human psyche in the work of such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Kierkegaard, and Wittgenstein. His recent publications include The Force of Argument: Essays in Honor of Timothy Smiley (Edited with Alex Oliver, Routledge 2009), Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation (Harvard University Press, 2006), Freud (Routledge, 2005), Therapeutic Action: An Earnest Plea for Irony (Other Press, 2003), Happiness, Death, and the Remainder of Life (Harvard University Press, 2000), and Open Minded: Working Out the Logic of the Soul (Harvard University Press, 1998). He is currently John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago.

Friday, April 23^rd

West Lounge, Dougherty Hall

10:00am – 11:00am

“Incorporeal Nous and the Science of the Soul

in Aristotle’s De Anima”

Adam Wood, Fordham University

11:15am–12:15pm

“Beyond the (Kantian) Pleasure Principle”

Todd Kesselman, New School for Social Research

12:30pm – 1:30pm

“The Attraction of the Kalon”

Sarah Hegenbart, University of Oxford, St. Anne’s College

1:30pm – 2:30pm

Lunch

2:30pm – 3:30pm

“Mapping the Psyche through the Railway Network: A Reading of Freud’s Metaphors from the Project for a Scientific Psychology to Interpreting Dreams”

Claudie Massicotte, University of Western Ontario

3:45pm – 4:45pm

“The See-Through Self: Aquinas on Reflexion, Self-Awareness, and Freedom”

Therese Scarpelli Cory, Georgetown University

5:30pm, Keynote Address:

Johnathan Lear, University of Chicago

Saturday, April 24^th

West Lounge, Dougherty Hall

10:00am – 11:00am

“Virtual Lives and Virtue”

Anna Mathie, Catholic University of America

11:15am – 12:15pm

“The Maternal Psyche and the Work of Civilization:

Kristeva’s Rewriting of Civilization and its Discontents”

Pleshette DeArmitt, University of Memphis

12:30pm – 1:30 pm

“Psuché, Arété, Phusis”

John Wolfe, University of South Florida

1:30pm – 2:30pm

Lunch

2:30pm – 3:30pm

“On Levinas’ Heroic Critique of Authenticity”

Beau Shaw, Columbia University

3:45pm – 4:45pm

“The New Problem of Akratic Action”

Charles Norman Todd, University of Chicago

5:00pm – 6:00pm

“Primal Intersubjectivity, Alienation, and

the Establishment of Subjectivity”

Anna Johnson, Miami University of Ohio

A sunrise by maxfield parish

I have a rather odd thing to be happy about. It's a bruise on my bottom. I leapt out of the way of the cold water when I turned on the shower before going swimming on wednesday, and leapt right into the handle of the shower stall door. It's left a gloriously dark purple bruise, and I'm rather proud of it. It's such an excellent example of it's kind.

Also, Rafiki, when he saw it, said "Oh Cat, what happened? Your bruises turn blue?" because they don't show up the same way on his skin.

Spring

There are deep purple crocuses coming out to play. Birds are singing, trees have little buds, and sun sun sun.

The world is singing today.

Sculpture, Serenades, and Snuggly Bicycles

1. There was a wonderful swirly wooden sculpture of ramps in one of my favorite study/hangout rooms. It had a sign on it, which said "Please feel free to interact with the sculpture, although be aware it has not been designed with building code specifications, so please use at your own risk." I I used my own risk, and climb up and sat on it. It was awesome.


2. There was a man softly singing opera in line behind us today.

3. A man had a big cosy wagon built onto the front of his bike, and a lady was curled up in it with lots of blankets and pillows. I want one :)

sweet sweet spring

It's SUCH a beautiful day. I am sitting in the sun, with it warming my back and a lady bug crawled across my keyboard.

A musical version of die Dialektik next

Today's german class turned into a lecture on Hegelian philosophy. I thought there were some members of the audience who might appreciate that :)
We also discussed Roger's and Hammerstein's song "My Favorite Things" from the sound of music.
I certainly like the number of academic tangents my professor can take between any two points. It's delightful.

It's not even their homework!

I have amazingly nice friends. In the midst of a rather vague research project, not one, not two, but THREE friends have sent me links to websites that they thought might be useful.

Circus Subway

I had a wonderful subway ride this morning. There was a very small asian girl in a stroller holding a peeled but still whole banana, that was about the same size as her arm, while her Daddy crouched beside her and read her a picture book. On the other side of me was a giant man. He had to duck when he entered the doors of the subway car. He used the rail that goes along the ceiling to rest his newspaper while he read it.

Flowers!!! :) :)

I got a lovely beautiful bouquet of flowers from 3 lovely beautiful ladies! LOVE!

Whales!

I saw WHALES, real ones :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) Four (I think) swimming together at sunset at Ka'anapali beach. It was incredible.

I'm not sure I Kuhn do it with a straight face.

My philosophy of science professor sent out an email in which he actively encouraged us to put puns in our essay titles.
"There will be no penalty of any kind if you hand the paper in any time up to and including March 31st. I hope you hear me Laudan clear. (NB: Unfortunately, we are unable to award bonus marks for puns in essay titles. But I encourage them all the same.)"

This Too Shall Pass

Exciting Events

1. I finished the crossword all by myself, and although I'm not too sure about the words "alga" or "aril", or "ham" as an example of a scenery chewer, all the boxes are filled for the second time in my life!

2. Someone taped a double page spread picture of the men's canadian hockey team winning the gold medal at the olympics on the window of the subway car this morning. I do like how crazy everyone went over winning the final event :)

3. I saw this article in the newspaper this morning. I wish I'd been there.